Cons

Some businesses may want funding options that don’t incur debt, like invoice factoring.

Personally liable for the debt even if used for business expenses.

Discover Personal Loans Reviews

See above info for Discover Personal Loans Reviews. If you are a current or former Discover customer, we’d like to hear from you. How was your experience? Are you a repeat Discover user?

Discover is a diversified financial services company, based in Riverwoods, Illinois.1 Best known for its clever ’what’s in your wallet?’ television commercials, Discover also offers savings accounts, student loans, debt consolidation loans, small business credit cards and more.

Noticeably absent from these offerings are business loans. While it’s true that Discover doesn’t provide online small business loans in the traditional sense, aspiring entrepreneurs do have funding options. Savvy entrepreneurs looking for startup capital can apply for a personal loans for business from Discover.

Applicants can potentially borrow up to $35,000, which is above the average amount ($30,000) needed to start a new business.2 The APRs (annual percentage rate) for Discover personal loans range from about 7%-25% with terms from 3 to 7 years. A seven year personal loan is rather unusual, but the lower monthly payments are attractive to many borrowers with cash flow concerns.

Potential borrowers need to weigh the benefits of these quick business loans with the higher rates they will charge. While personal loans have a rather low borrowable amount, they are easier and faster to access than traditional business loans, especially as a startup.

Website visitors can use a variety of loan calculators to assess their financing potential. There are also helpful articles with topics ranging from credit card basics and small business marketing to credit monitoring and general financial trends.

How is Discover Different from other Factoring Companies?

The biggest difference is that Discover lends money to its customers. Conversely, factoring companies offer invoice factoring which is the discounted sale of accounts receivable. It is common among business-to-business (B2B) companies in the staffing, construction, manufacturing and trucking.

Sometimes, a factoring company will issue loans using the outstanding invoices as collateral. This is technically a secured loan, contrary to personal loans for business which are unsecured (and with higher associated costs).

From Sign Up to Funding

Getting started on Discover was easy. We provided Discover with some basic information, answering a series of questions on their site, and were presented with funding options. One great feature is the application process can be done online but also over the phone. While this flexibility might appeal to Millennials, many Gen-X and Boomers enjoy speaking with an actual representative from time to time!

We were happy with the simplicity of the entire process and the fact that personal loan proceeds can be used to start a business, which is not the case with all lenders. One piece of advice-if you don’t need the funds immediately, try to build up your credit first before applying, it can make a big difference with your rate. Bad credit business loans don’t come cheap.

Discover Loans Pros and Cons

In addition to the Discover personal loans reviews above, we summed up the pros and cons: